


Son, He Said

by altered_eagle



Series: City Goblins [23]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth has the patience of a saint, Batjokes, Caretaking, Daddy Issues, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues, POV Joker (DCU), Protective Alfred Pennyworth, Sickfic, The Babysitter's Club, fuckin' a, here we go again folks, there's not like past abuse or anything but if you have dad issues be warned it comes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 19:23:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20662448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altered_eagle/pseuds/altered_eagle
Summary: Sometimes when you get your body busted six ways from Sunday and your billionaire fiancé's out fighting evil, his butler confidant with the patience of a saint has to step in to help you keep yourself together.





	Son, He Said

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during the events of [And Sign Up With Evil.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19785730) The title is from the song Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel because i am a big gay cheese ball.

Late evening you’re still not here and i’m bent double over your leather sofa with my insides on fire, gasping and dry heaving into a bucket and trying to apologize to your old man in between the heaves as he holds my hair back because he shouldn’t be doing this, he should never do this, but then he rubs my back and says

_It’s all right, son, _and for some reason my body stills,

and i can breathe. Your old man’s hands still too, but after a second he’s acting like nothing happened.

While he helps me wipe my mouth and rinse and spit i’m not here, not really, i’m back to

what i think maybe might have been the first time your old man saw me: in your ballroom with my little knife at that smug bastard’s throat snarling into his face behind a red red haze and you were there and then Batman was there and your old man was there,

and i dropped that lady off a balcony.

if i reach far enough i can feel the sting from her slap warming my cheek along the lines her fingers made i can see your old man standing by the door frozen, jaw dropped as i pressed my little knife into the lip of the man in front of me just barely to the point of drawing blood as i bore my eyes into his drinking in his terror

_i HATED my father._

i’ve lied about a lot of things but that’s one lie i’ll never have to tell.

_What was that? _Comes your old man’s voice and i realize at some point i probably started doing that speaking aloud without knowing it thing but the next time i speak so that your old man can hear:

_i just, uh._ My throat clicks hard and raw as i swallow. _i just did. But i don't._

Your butler cocks one eyebrow.

_i did hate my father_, i tell him._ i don’t hate you._

Your old man looks at me, and the sad deep lines around his eyes fall away and his whole form seems to soften as he slowly slowly slowly reaches for me, tucks a curl of hair behind my ear. His hand stays, calloused fingers resting lightly on the nape of my neck. Something down in my chest lightens and lifts even as i feel my head growing heavier even as my body follows suit and your old man guides me to his shoulder and i crumble.

Everything throbs.

Everything hurts. 

i can hear my breath crackling in and out against the fabric of your old man’s shirt. When i can’t hold back a hiss of pain he makes a sympathetic sound that’s normally reserved for you.

_It just hurts_, i manage. Your old man sighs in a way that means he wishes there was something more he could do and i don’t deserve that but hell right now i’ll take it. Suddenly my gut cramps hard and the pain spikes and my heart stutters and stutters and stutters and won’t stop and i feel my head drop against the couch cushions feel myself fading out

The next thing i’m aware of is a click and something warm against my stomach. i press the heating pad into the pain and it helps, just enough.

_Close your eyes for a bit_, your old man murmurs, tugging at me until i'm leaning on him again. _Master Bruce will be here soon. Try to relax_. That last part makes me laugh but i do as he says. i feel the blanket from the back of the couch wrap around me. The television voices turn on low.

Part of something in me still wants you here and wants it fiercely,

but it turns out your old man’s an ok substitute.

_You’re lucky to have him_, i’ll tell you when you get home. _You’re the luckiest man in the world._

_Climbing up on Solsbury Hill_  
_I could see the city light_  
_Wind was blowing, time stood still_  
_Eagle flew out of the night_  
_He was something to observe_  
_Came in close, I heard a voice_  
_Standing stretching every nerve_  
_Had to listen had no choice_

_I did not believe the information_  
_I just had to trust imagination_  
_My heart going boom boom boom_  
_"Son," he said "G__rab your things, i've come to take you home"_

_To keep in silence I resigned_  
_My friends would think I was a nut_  
_Turning water into wine_  
_Open doors would soon be shut_  
_So I went from day to day_  
_Though my life was in a rut_  
_Till I thought of what I'd say_  
_Which connection I should cut_

_I was feeling part of the scenery_  
_I walked right out of the machinery_  
_My heart going boom boom boom_  
_"Hey" he said __"Grab your things I've come to take you home"_

_Ay, back home_

_When illusion spin her net_  
_I'm never where I want to be_  
_And liberty she pirouette_  
_When I think that I am free_  
_Watched by empty silhouettes_  
_Who close their eyes but still can see_  
_No one taught them etiquette_  
_I will show another me_

_Today I don't need a replacement_  
_I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant_  
_My heart going boom boom boom_  
_"Hey" I said "Y__ou can keep my things, they've come to take me home"_

[Solsbury Hill: Peter Gabriel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OO2PuGz-H8)


End file.
